Democracy is deified as a government ruled by its people, a society represented by its own members forming a self deciding and self governed community. This very essential ideal established the founders of the United States has become harder to uphold, and there are restraints that do not allow for true democracy to be fully expressed. Extra-governmental actions by special interests and the intricate costs of campaigns has married the economic and political arenas and it has resulted the creation of heavily influenced representatives that no longer serve their original function- to represent the interest of their constituents. The functionality of today’s political system would be unrecognizable to that of the original Constitution and that of the founders. The absence of term limits of House and Senate representatives have causes two elements that infringes on the democratic value of the government of the United States; now members of the congress and senate are career politicians and hold office for many ulterior reasons other than the honor of public service, and secondly this notion has now created a political class an exclusive society that dictates the legislative process. An Amendment to the Constitution is necessary to overturn the previous institutional establishment of limitless terms for senators and house representatives, because amendments are the only way to modify the articles of the constitution. [1] The Proposed Amendment would be as followed:

SECTION 1. No person who has served three terms as a Representative shall be eligible for election to the House of Representatives. For purposes of this section, the election of a person to fill a vacancy in the House of Representatives shall be included as one term in determining the number of terms that such person has served as a Representative if the person fills the vacancy for more than one year. (DeMint 2011) SECTION 2. No person who has served two terms as a Senator shall be eligible for election or appointment to the Senate. For purposes of this section, the election or appointment of a person to fill a vacancy in the Senate shall be included as one term in determining the number of terms that such person has served as a Senator if the person fills the vacancy for more than three years. (DeMint 2011) This turn in political culture has inspired the creation of the Twenty-eight Amendment to the Constitution, which is necessary to reinstitute traditional and effective democracy that is the principle foundation of this nation. Further, we will discuss the proposed amendment’s ratification process, the necessity of a term limit amendment rather than simple campaign finance reform, and finally the aggregate of political benefits that the American people would receive if this proposed amendment is successful. Due to the fact that this proposal deals with changing how the government functions it must be dealt with a constitutional amendment and not just a bill, this proposal would shift the way government operates for the benefit of democracy and the American people. For an amendment to be ratified it must pass through a rigorous proposition process. The first process entails, a two-thirds approval vote from both the House or the senate and the ratification of the proposal requires a three-fourths vote. The second is based on the two-thirds approval of the state legislators that lead to a congressional convention. The former procedure is how 26 of 27 amendments in the constitution have been ratified barring the 21st amendment that ended prohibition and this is the more likely of the two. The idea for term limits has been on the floor of the house and senate twice in the last two decades arising from similar situations. Both of these movements arose after a crucial and majority democrat to republican shift in congress during mid-term elections. The...

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...﻿TermLimits
Congressman should only be allowed to serve two consecutive terms. Just about every time the issues of termlimits appear on local or state election ballots, it passes. (Priest) The most important argument when it comes to termlimits has to be what the voters want. In this case the voters obviously are in favor of termlimits. Havingtermlimits would allow Congress to be infused with new people and new ideas. It would instantly get rid of the “career politician”. The new legislators would have a sense of urgency to get results and would have better ideas of the challenges that ordinary Americans face every day. (Siefman) A country cannot be a democracy in theory. In order for this country to live up its creed and to do what the constitution says we have to have termlimits on our legislators. Without termlimit this country is nothing less than a dictatorship disguised as democracy.
Allowing legislators to serve more than two terms can lead to what is referred to as a “seniority system”. In theory, each member of Congress has one vote and that vote is supposed to represent the wishes of the people that he or she represents. With the seniority system that is not always the case (Siefman). Senior Congressmen often use their influence...

...COR 100 – 4270
Term Paper
Throughout American history many changes have occurred. However, throughout history The Bill of Rights has helped America have a strong constant foundation. James Madison created the Bill of Rights in 1788. They helped guide America through these changes but were never altered. Out of these ten amendments the eighthamendment has been upheld since it was created. The eighthamendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This means that when a person is arrested and being accused of a crime, the court are not allowed to set an unreasonable bail and are not allowed to impose harsh punishments. This amendment has been upheld throughout the years in social, economic and government situations.
The government in the United States has done everything they can to uphold the eighthamendment. They have gone as far as overturning a previous decision because it was not in agreement with the amendment. In 1989 Penry v. Lynaugh ruled that it was acceptable to execute mentally retarded individuals. The big issue was whether or not a mentally retarded individual possessed the mental and moral capability to be subjected to the death penalty. “A separate five-to-four majority struck down the Texas capital punishment...

...College |
Should There Be TermLimits for Congressman and Senators? |
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Brodfuehrer, Jason P |
4/12/2012 |
BACKGROUND
Currently in the United States, we have a system setup where the average citizen is allowed to run for a seat in the House of Representatives or the Senate as long as they meet specific age and citizenship requirements. According to the United States Constitution, “No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen (U.S. Archives 1). Additionally the United States Constitution states that, “No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen (U.S. Archives 1). With these minimum restrictions put in place by our Founding Fathers 236 years ago, they believed that an average citizen of the United States would have gained enough education, “worldly” experience, and maturity in order to successfully make the important decisions needed to run our country and provide checks and balances upon the President of the United States.
As you read the entire original part of the United States Constitution (minus the additions of the Bill of Rights...

...The eighthamendment is defined as “excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted (Lectlaw, 2010). This amendment was adopted as part of the Bill of Rights in 1791. The eighthamendment serves the purpose of protection of those who are innocent until proven guilty and to ensure that all persons are treated fairly in the criminal justice system.
Defendants who are not released on bail are being denied the opportunity to prepare their defense. Also, denying bail or having excessive bail imprisons the defendant without being properly convicted. There are cases, however, where bail must be denied or set excessively high. If an unconvicted defendant is feared to be a danger to the community or a flight risk, the constitution permits the denial of bail (FindLaw, 2010).
The “no excessive fines clause of the eighthamendment presides fines directly imposed by, and payable to the government and in civil forfeiture cases” (Onecle, 2009). The term “excessive” still has not been defined by the United States court system. Asset forfeiture, however, has become a key element in the war on drugs as the government has the power to seize property of persons that have not yet been convicted of a crime (Hornberger, 2005).
The law “there shall not be cruel and unusual punishment” under the eighth...

...Death Penalty and The EighthAmendment
The expression "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth" has taken on a whole new
meaning. Lately, murderers have been getting a punishment equal to their crime,
death. In 1967, executions in the United States were temporarily suspended to
give the federal appellate courts time to decide whether or not the death
penalty was unconstitutional. Then, in 1972, the United States Supreme Court
ruled in the case of "Furman versus Georgia" that the death penalty violated
the Eight Amendments. According to the EighthAmendment, "Excessive bail shall
not be required, no excessive fines imposed, nor cruel or unusual punishments
inflicted." After the Supreme Court made this ruling, states reviewed their
death penalty laws. In 1976, in the case of "Gregg versus Georgia" the Supreme
Court ruled state death penalty laws were not unconstitutional. Presently in
the United States the death penalty can only be used as punishment for
intentional killing. Still, the death penalty violates the EighthAmendment and
should be outlawed in the United States.
Currently in the United States there are five methods used for executing
criminals: the electric chair, gas chamber, lethal injection, hanging, and
firing squad, each of them equally cruel and unusual in there own ways.
When a person is sentenced to death by electrocution he strapped to a
chair and...

...8th Amendment
The EighthAmendment to the United States Constitution is part of the United States Bill of Rights which took effect in 1791. The amendment prohibits the federal government from imposing excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel and unusual punishments (Wikipedia). This amendment was ratified as part of the United States Bill of Rights in 1791. This amendment actually started in England in 1689 by King William III. Virginia had adopted the language of the English Bill of Rights in the Virginia Declarations of Rights in 1776. James Madison then proposed the amendment to congress in 1789. According to the Supreme Court, the EighthAmendment forbids some punishments entirely, and forbids some other punishments that are excessive when compared to the crime. Traditionally, the length of a prison sentence was not subject to scrutiny under the EighthAmendment, regardless of the crime for which the sentence was imposed. It was not until 1983, that the Supreme Court held that incarceration, standing alone, could constitute cruel and unusual punishment if it were "disproportionate" in duration with respect to the offense (Wikipedia). The EighthAmendment has been interpreted to mean that bail may be denied if the charges are sufficiently serious. The Supreme Court has also permitted...

...[Year]
Anti-Federalists and TermLimits
Argument against termlimits for the Presidency
Introduction
In 1787, with America in it’s infancy, the Anti-Federalists wrote responses to the Federalist papers and the Federalist support of what became the U.S. Constitution. The Anti-Federalist response (unlike the Federalist) was not coordinated, but was effective in voicing valid concerns about the formation of our government.
Nearly 150 years after the Anti-Federalist papers, Franklin Roosevelt’s (FDR) presidency saw a different era in American History. Our country had evolved to include an economy that involved a stock market, new modes of transportation, and modern aspects to foreign policy. FDR is widely regarded as the most successful president of the 20th century and as one of the top three most successful presidents in U.S. history.
While the concerns of the Anti-Federalists addressed many features of the formation of our government, this paper will focus on the Anti-Federalist concerns over the Executive Office and the presidential term of office, to fit within the parameters of the assignment. Anti-Federalist concerns over the Executive Office will be compared and examined against the FDR presidency, along with the corresponding more modern transitional time in which FDR governed, to provide some insight into the direction our government is headed.
Analysis
One of the main concerns...

...and Opposing of TermLimitsTermlimits have been very controversial over the years. They have been both favored and opposed. Most people are in favor of termlimits because incumbents are reelected for years and years. Very few people are opposed of termlimits and most of those who are work for Congress. Some very interesting arguments in termlimits favor have been the fact that these politicians are making careers out of their positions are not getting anything accomplished because they have no time limit. Experience can be both a positive and a negative to termlimits. The positive being new ideas and fresh faces being in Congress. The negative would be that the more experienced legislators would be thrown out and would result in a loss of talent and waste of knowledge. More opposing theories would be that not only would termlimits get rid of all the “bad apples” but it would also get rid of the better Congressmen as well. Most of Congress who oppose termlimits fear that putting new people in office could wreck our government system.
“By shortening congressionalterms, proponents hope to make sure that nobody sees becoming a congressional representative as a viable lifetime...